'Only Way Is Essex' stars 'demand pay'

The cast of ITV2's The Only Way Is Essex have reportedly demanded that they are paid to feature in the show's still-unconfirmed second series.

Stars of the show including Mark Wright, Amy Childs, Lauren Goodger and Kirk Norcross signed up for the series for free, according to a report in The Mirror. However, they now want that to change.

"All the cast want to be in the next series," a source told the paper. "But now they've got a bit of notoriety to their names they want to be paid a wage. The people who are in it the most donate a lot of time for filming.

"Mark and Amy are the most vocal about deserving a pay packet."

They continued: "It takes ages to shoot an episode - each scene takes a couple of hours and it all adds up to a full-time job. They think this should be recognised.

"Word is that the cast was banned from doing PAs or having a full-time job during the show, so it also hindered their money-making outside of the show, too. It was obviously great exposure for them all, but now they feel like they need to start charging for their time."

An ITV spokesperson commented that none of the cast are "throwing their toys out of the pram".